Lynx Anton hit and killed in the Westerzgebirge mountains

The lynx Anton, who was released into the wild in the Westerzgebirge, is no longer alive. The one-and-a-half-year-old male was found dead near Schöneck (Vogtland), according to the State Office for the Environment, Agriculture and Geology. The animal was lying in a field about 20 meters from the district road between Arnoldsgrün and Schilbach. According to the data and traces, it had been hit by a truck during the night or in the morning.

Anton was released into the wild on August 26 in the Eibenstock forest district in the Westerzgebirge. He spent most of his time in the forests between Eibenstock and Schöneck until his transmitting data was silenced forever. "He was in the process of staking out his own territory, gaining more and more hunting experience and bagged his first deer at the end of October," the state office said in a statement. It had also already caught a goat.

Traffic accidents are one of the most common causes of death among lynx

Lynx have large home ranges and inevitably have to cross roads time and again. The associated dangers are difficult for wild animals to assess. This is why road accidents are also one of the most common causes of death among lynx. Anton was wearing a GPS collar, which made it easy to follow his tracks. The animal is now to undergo a pathological examination at the Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin.

Anton had grown up in a large breeding enclosure in a Belgian zoo and had been prepared for his release into the wild in the wild cat village of Hütscheroda in Thuringia. Saxony wants to reintroduce 20 lynxes by 2027. This will involve wild-caught animals, mainly from Switzerland, and breeding animals from zoos. So far, three males (Kuder) and two cats have been released into the wild. Alongside Thuringia and Baden-Württemberg, Saxony is the only federal state to reintroduce the endangered species.